The lost art in offset lithography

Dear All,

Here is a nice vintage offset lithograph reproduction print I picked today for my own collection. It is based on a colored engraving from the eighteenth century. In my humble opinion it is one example of the early golden years of offset lithography, before the artistic aspect of the process was lost. I used to wonder how some early offset lithos have quite an appealing , crisp and vibrant look as some original lithographs. Sometime back someone in the know explained to me that in the early years of the widespread adoption of offset lithos (basically after WW2 in the late 40s, 50s and early 60s, though offset lithos were discovered quite earlier), craftsmen(artists) were still involved in the process and it was a joint collaboration of photographers and craftsmen. Obviously it was quite a slow and cumbersome process.The craftsmen used to work upon or highlight various areas on the image in the intermediate plate inch by inch sometimes taking them weeks or more than a month to finish. But the resulting images of the offset litho prints were quite nice and appealing and one actually can not find the dot patterns easily. But overtime this slow process was deemed to be not economical and hence the process was streamlined omitting the role of the craftsmen and relying on purely photomechanical process. Hence between the era of original lithography ( stone lithos etc until WW2) and the purely photomechanical offset lithos that most of us grew up with (those mundane , non crisp prints where you can see the dot patterns with your naked eye),it seems there was a brief transitional vintage period where offset lithos were produced with artistic appeal. Alas that now is a lost art in offset lithography. My hunch is that the golden era of offset lithos produced great prints because printing houses did not want to let go of their craftsmen immediately and these craftsmen made sure by their appealing works that they were still an artistic force to reckon with in the face of the intimidating machine age : ).

Anyway I hope some of you also appreciate like me these particular kinds of vintage offset litho prints from a bygone era.

TTA


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I appreciate any kind of image of Lisbon
Bought one last year. Looked old, but it turned out to be a 1969 (numbered) print. Gave it to my mother (and by "gave" I mean I had to leave it behind at my parents' home, as I no more space in my luggage due to all the records I bought) so no pic available. I'm trying to find an image on the www, but no luck so far...

 

I think I've found it! If I'm not mistaken this is my view of Lisbon:

According to the site where I found it, this is of the 1947 edition, but I think mine is of a 1969 re-edition

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@TT Antique : do you have a picture that shows the matrix?

 

Here's one

 

Very stylish.

 

Thanks moreotherstuff. Unfortunately that was the best picture I was able to come up among some few shots I took. No dot patterns are visible with the eyes. But I have an airtight reason that it is an offset litho. Here is another similar offset litho print of the old Lisbon palace ( based on another colored engraving)by the same print company. Again very crisp and vibrant.I took a picture of it somewhere, though I used to have this as well a few years back ...hope to get it again.

TTA

 

Offset printing process:


I think a controlling factor in quality is how the plates are produced.

 

I've always been impressed with the process. The work it takes is obvious. I'd just love to witness the process in action. To me, it's always seemed a bit of magic to take a painting and turn it in a lithograph.

 

I was surprised to learn that three color printing was an 18th C invention:

(a la poupée is selectively inking areas in a single plate with various colors)

https://www.hollstein.com/new_dutch-en-flemish/jc-le-blon-and-trichromatic-printing-part-i.html

https://blogs.getty.edu/iris/buck-teeth-and-all-true-lies-in-early-color-printing/

These are not offset processes, but you can imagine how the principles were adapted.

 

As to timing , though generally speaking it has been said that original litho prints (eg. vintage posters) were prevalent upto WW2 and then offset litho prints started to kick in after that , however in specific situations developments and adoptions could be different in some countries.For instance while most of Europe's and America's posters in the art deco era (1920-30's) were original litho prints, however I read somewhere that in the Soviet Union they already started producing offset litho propaganda posters back in the 1920s. I guess it was more convenient for their need to mass produce those materials.

TTA

 

I think there is an original engraving of that picture. Most of these engravings showing Lisbon from the eighteenth century, especially showing the old palace were from before the 1755 earthquake that destroyed the city including the old Palace (depicted in the prints I attached).

TTA

 

The take home message from this discourse on vintage offset lithos is that don't hastily discard a print as a "mere litho reproduction print", but rather see closely if it is a vintage offset litho produced with artistic appeal. It may hold some value to some print enthusiasts as well as some interior decorators. Actually collectors of mid century and later posters already collect such kind of prints. But there are also some non -poster vintage offset litho prints that could be worth picking.

TTA

 

I've been thinking about this, and one thing to consider is that the Lisbon prints are based on engravings. Engravings are composed of discreet lines, they don't have the smooth tonal gradations of a painting. Lines are more easily captured and printed photographically than are tonalities.

I had this offset reproduction of a 19th C fashion plate.


The original would have been a hand colored etching. You can see, in this detail, that the offset method had no problem capturing simple lines, but when it came to broad areas of color, screens had to be introduced and the expected dot matrix appears:


On a color picture like this Mountain Bluebird:


The entire image is done using broad color separation screens, resulting in an obvious dot matrix:

 

Thanks moreotherstuff. Your explanation is quite a logical and reasonable one and it could explain the first Lisbon print. But it may not explain the second Lisbon print which does not display the dot patterns as well (I had also this print before) and it has a number of broad areas of color unlike the first one... But what I gathered when I read more about mid century early offset lithos is that, the craftsmen not only highlighted the images meticulously on the intermediate plates, but also actually fine tuned tonalities and even used to add textures as well.

Here is a response I got from the bing AI to the question to what extent the role of craftsmen were in early offset lithos. I have tried to copy paste it here. Ofcourse we are not obliged to take all AI generated responses as the final truth. In most cases it gives references at the end, but in this case it did not. By the way it is quite educational for me this discourse with you as it helps me investigate more deeply.

TTA


Copilot

During the early years of offset lithography, craftsmen indeed employed various techniques to enhance the visual appeal of printed images. Let’s delve into some of these practices:

1.Fine-Tuning Tonalities:

Color Separation: To achieve accurate color reproduction, craftsmen separated the original image into individual color channels (cyan, magenta, yellow, and black) using photographic or mechanical methods. Each channel represented a specific tonality.

Dot Gain Control:
Adjusting the size and density of halftone dots on the printing plate helped control tonal variations. This process ensured that the printed image closely matched the original.

2. Adding Textures:

Halftone Screens: By varying the dot size and spacing in halftone screens, craftsmen could introduce subtle textures. Finer screens produced smoother gradients, while coarser screens created a more textured appearance.

Embossing and Debossing: Craftsmen used relief plates to create raised (embossed) or recessed (debossed) textures on paper. These techniques added tactile interest to printed materials.

Simulating Textures: Craftsmen sometimes mimicked textures (such as wood grain, fabric, or stone) by manipulating halftone screens or using specialized plates. This added depth and visual interest to images.

3. Highlighting Techniques:

Spot Varnishes: Applying varnish selectively to specific areas of the image (e.g., highlights or focal points) enhanced contrast and emphasized certain elements.

Hand-Coloring: Skilled artisans manually added color to black-and-white prints using brushes or stencils. This technique allowed for precise highlighting and shading.

Burnishing: Craftsmen gently rubbed specific areas of the printed image with a smooth tool (such as a bone folder) to create highlights. This technique was especially common in fine art prints.

In summary, craftsmen during the early years of offset lithography combined technical expertise with artistic sensibility to fine-tune tonalities, add textures, and highlight specific elements in printed images. Their craftsmanship contributed to the rich visual history of lithographic prints.

 

From what I read elsewhere, in order to differentiate these vintage offset lithos (so that they are not confused with original lithos) , one must look closely on the 'entire' offset litho print including the corners to atleast find some few dot patterns, as it is unlikely that the craftsmen had worked their 'magical' embellishments on the entire image and some small area may have been 'spared'

TTA

 

This is a very nice large off-set litho I bought for the print quality. It was languishing in a thrift store and I thought it too nice to leave sitting. Saw it day after day and finally bought it when it went to half price. Picture is not the best here but, hopefully, you can get a sense of it.

 

I have a copy of Tannhauser illustrated by Willy Pogeny and published in 1911. It has lots of black and white illustrations, but also has “tipped in” color illustrations. This is how color illustrations were usually handled right up to the 1960s. This would have been considered state-of-the-art when published, and it uses offset lithography for the color.




The most elaborate color exercise I have from the period is Tennyson’s Morte d’Arthur, illuminated by Alberto Sangorski, 1912. The entire book can be found online here:
https://archive.org/details/mortedarthurpoem00tennuoft/page/n51/mode/2up

Another production using the most up to date technology. Again, the reproduction method of choice was offset lithography. Here’s a detail of Tennyson’s portrait from the title page:



Jumping ahead to 1979, I have the book “Yosemite and the Range of Light” featuring photographs by Ansel Adams. This is a large format book produced with “double impression offset lithography”. This was a process developed to specifically reduce the impact of the offset dot matrix.


There are no dots immediately apparent, but if you look closely enough...

 

Thanks moreotherstuff. Was it under magnification or with naked eye?
TTA